This is an interesting topic that comes up here from time to time, as it occasionally intersects with many of the supplements we discuss on this blog and our YouTube channel.

When asked about fertility supplements for men, there’s one product that has four of the six ingredients we suggest: Kaged Muscle Ferodrox!

Many men don’t discuss the topic of fertility in public, but after having a child in 2017, and having covered several natural testosterone optimizers on this site — I’ve fielded several questions regarding diet and supplementation when trying to have a baby.

Men: You may not be the problem, but don’t leave that to chance

There are indeed times when baby creation is simply not up to the man’s body. But when your wife’s body is ready to conceive, you sure as hell don’t want to be the bottleneck on operations. In this guide, we explore an underrated side of the sports nutrition supplement industry — the side that happens to improve fertility (and libido, but our focus is fertility here) when working to enhance natural testosterone production.

Before going any further, please note that this post does not constitute medical expertise, as I am not a doctor. The supplements suggested here are to be considered as an adjunct therapy. If you are serious about conceiving, and the clock is ticking, seek medical expertise immediately, and get tested. This is doubly true if you have taken exogenous hormones in the past and may have affected your HPTA Axis (Hypothalamus-Pituitary-Testes-Axis).

We start with Ferodrox, but doesn’t end there

In this stack, we’re using an in-house favorite, Kaged Muscle’s Ferodrox, as the base of our supplement stack in order to explore the fertility benefits that herbs can confer upon consumers. Reason being, this supplement already has four of the six ingredients we’re most interested in, and they come in two simple capsules per day.

Starting with Ferodrox

Kaged Muscle Ferodrox is what they say it is – a fantastic testosterone support matrix in just two capsules per day! But the craziest part is how the ingredients have been shown to improve male fertility!

We love Ferodrox because of the following ingredients, which are meant to optimize T levels but have an incredible aspect of affecting fertility and libido too! Note that Kaged Muscle is notmarketing this as a fertility supplement – we are. It’s here because it conveniently has great doses of our base baby-maker stack, and we’re huge fans of Kris Gethin and his team at KM:

L-OptiZinc (30mg)

A zinc deficiency is the fastest way to tank your body’s ability to produce testosterone. Zinc is an essential mineral we must get from diet, so we need all the help we can get. While you may think we sound alarmist, there is substantial research showing that Americans and even athletes struggle in the zinc compartment.[1] By correcting a deficiency in zinc, you can improve your lbido, boost your testosterone (to a point), and even immune system function.[2-3]

For fertility, multiple meta-analyses have shown that a zinc deficiency impedes spermatogenesis — the process our body uses to produce new sperm. Beyond sperm production, zinc is an essential mineral in both capacitation and the acrosomal reaction. These two processes are critical for proper fertilization of the female ovum. Men that are infertile have much lower levels of zinc in their seminal fluid than highly fertile men. [4] If you’re trying to have a kid and are failing… it may be worth it to get a zinc panel performed by a physician.

The data is nearly universal: lower zinc and infertility go hand in hand. Don’t take this easy one to chance.[4]

L-OptiZinc is a patented blend of zinc and methionine. This zinc-methionine complex appears to boost the absorption of zinc relative to a control, so we’ll take it![5]

KSM-66 Ashwagandha (600mg)

Ashwagandha is an herb we recommend to almost everyone — as it can crush perceptions of stress. Ashwagandha acts by reducing the amount of cortisol circulating throughout your body, without causing deleterious health side effects. Cortisol is one of the stress hormones of the body, so we’ll take less when we can get it — but we need it to live. Ashwagandha is a great bridge between prescription drugs and supplements as it works similarly to some pharmaceuticals without the nasty side effects that would come with crashed cortisol levels.

Elevated Cortisol is bad for sperm production

Made by Ixoreal Biomed, KSM-66 is claimed to be the strongest full-spectrum Ashwagandha extract!

Cortisol can inhibit the body’s ability to produce testosterone, so correcting your “cortisol to testosterone” ratio can help boost your natural production of testosterone.[7,8] Beyond its direct impact on testosterone levels, cortisol inhibits sperm production as the level of the central nervous system, the pituitary gland, and even the gonads themselves.[6]

The correlation between chronic stress and male infertility is well documented, so less stress, more sex. Another way to put it is this: if your body is stressed (for survival), it’s most definitely not focusing on replication.

600mg is an amazing dosage — double what other products deliver. The clinical dose is somewhere between 250mg-600mg a day, so Ferodrox should have you feeling great and it will help bring sperm production back in line – especially if it was cortisol that was keeping yours down.

LJ100 Eurycoma Longifolia Extract (200mg)

LJ100 is a powerful, standardized take on Longjack, also known as “Tongkat Ali”, which is an herb frequently discussed in fertility circles. Longjack is an herb we all know as a libido and virility booster. The sexual benefits of Longjack are well-documented.[9,10] It improves the process of spermatogenesis by inhibition of two enzymes: aromatase and phosphodiesterase (PDE).[9]

One study measured cortisol also measured salivary testosterone. It went up significantly in longjack users (32 men, 31 women).

While PDE is an entire rabbithole on its own, aromatase is worth discussing — it’s the enzyme that converts testosterone into estrogen. The inhibition of aromatase is one way that Longjack may boost testosterone levels — however, the magnitude of this boost is a topic of debate amongst industry experts.[10-13]

LJ100 is an attempt to revolutionize Longjack extracts — as most extracts on the market are inconsistent and awful. HP Ingredients saw an opening in the market and released LJ100 as a standardized extract of the best parts of Eurycoma Longifolia.

For more information, we have a massive post going over its benefits, which you can find on our main LJ100 page.

PrimaVie® (Shilajit fulvic acid complex) (200mg)

Shilajit, beyond the Longjack Extract, is the most recent industry-discovery included in Ferodrox, but it’s far more unique. Shilajit is derived from sedimentary rocks in the Himalayan mountains and comes to our modern world from the same tradition that brought us Ashwagandha. Shilajit acts akin to Longjack as it will keep your testosterone levels within a healthy range.[14] It also appears to improve how the body absorbs other supplements.[15]

PrimaVie Shilajit is an ultra-high quality extract of the ayurvedic remedy shown to boost testosterone production and muscle repair.

As a more recent love of the industry, the research on Shilajit and fertility is new – but promising. A trial on mice exposed to cadmium showed that Shilajit restored spermatogenesis in infertile mice. It also reversed the damage cadmium caused on pre-existing sperm by an improving both motility and overall concentration. It also appears to improve fertility in female mice.[15] A separate study shows that Shilajit may increase the number of seminiferous tubular layers in the testicles of male rats. Shilajit may even induce ovulation in female rats.[16]

While we have learned to not get very excited about rodent trials — the benefits of Shilajit have us optimistic about its future as an infertility supplement.

Let me put this one simply to you: Shilajit was the difference-maker for me. Yes, this is based on personal anecdotal experience, but I will always have a soft spot in my heart for this ingredient.

Diindolylmethane (120mg)

The Kaged Muscle Ferodrox Ingredients bring four fully-dosed, patented ingredients in just two capsules

Diindolylmethane, or DIM, is derived from cruciferous vegetables. DIM may act as an aromatase inhibitor.[18] As discussed, aromatase is the enzyme that converts testosterone into estrogen. By stopping the conversion of test into estrogen, we get more in our body. It also may degrade estrogen receptors by activation of aryl hydrogen receptors.[19] Testosterone is a main player in spermatogenesis, so more testosterone can help fertility.

Beyond its potential as an aromatase inhibitor, DIM appears to keep “good and bad” estrogens in proper balance. Estrogen is a necessary hormone for human life — so we can’t get rid of estrogen completely. We only want to lower the estrogen causing deleterious effects on our sexual health. DIM lowers the “bad estrogen” while keeping levels of “good estrogen” within the safe range.[20] 120mg is a decent dose for DIM — not the best, not the worst.

BioPerine (10mg)

Kaged Muscle included Bioperine to improve the bioavailability of the other compounds in Ferodrox.[19] While we’re all used to seeing Bioperine at the end of every label, don’t overlook the dose used: it’s double the 5mg that we’re used to seeing.

If you’re on a budget, that may be enough on its own. But we’re not done yet!

Ferodrox and Friends for more Fertility Gains:

Below, we discuss two additional ingredients we recommend that men include with Ferodrox to rev up the profertility aspects of Ferodrox. As mentioned above, you don’t want to be the bottleneck on operations.

Maca

Not only may it help sperm parameters, but maca helps in the libido department too![25]

Maca is the colloquial name of Lepidium meyenii, best grown in Peru. Maca is interesting as it doesn’t appear to work through hormones.[23,24] Despite not modulating testosterone or estrogen, maca appears to boost sperm production and libido![25-28] It also may help suppress prostate hypertrophy as good as finasteride does.[29]

While you may wonder why you don’t see maca in every test booster — the problem is that “good maca” is scarce. There’s a whole long story coming to this blog and our YouTube channel (so subscribe), but the short story is that Chinese Maca (from stolen Peruvian seeds nonetheless) simply doesn’t grow properly. Don’t fret as we have good news for those seeking a quality Maca extract soon.

We usually opt for around 2g/day, and as mentioned above, stay tuned: something big in the maca game is coming.

D-Aspartic Acid

We tried to make this stack as easy to take as possible — but we have to introduce in some complexity. D-Aspartic Acid (DAA) is amongst our favorite testosterone boosters — at least for a few weeks! DAA is a precursor for many sexual hormones in humans. More DAA available in your body may drive up levels of luteinizing hormone, follicle-stimulating hormone, and even growth hormone.

These are the results of Testosterone increases from DAA. Great for a while… but the real deal is with the sexual health parameters below!

This boost in sexual hormones may even boost testosterone. One study showed that participants had a 42% boost in testosterone – at least for two weeks.[30] Testosterone seems to settle back to baseline by the end of the month. Acute boosts are not as beneficial as chronic boosts for muscle-building purposes, but it is DEFINITELY something for fertility.[31]

Beyond its testosterone boosting capabilities, DAA may blow away every damn fertility measure used to study it (see the images attached here). One study We recommend sticking to AROUND three grams a day as too much more may actually lower testosterone levels.

Young men probably won’t notice much benefit from DAA[32] but nearly everyone feels really good from it for at least a couple of weeks. Some people unfortunately get GI distress from it, which may lead you to wanting to lower the dose.

Watch out guys!! If you’re having pregnancy problems, DAA does some crazy stuff with seminal numbers!!!

Once again, we look at NutraBio D-Aspartic Acid, as it comes in both pills and powder. The powder is bitter so you’ll need to add it to something sweet, but that could be more convenient than using 4-5 additional capsules per day (on top of the two Ferodrox and 3-4 Maca caps).

Cycling D-Aspartic Acid?

There are some ideas about cycling the DAA usage (such as getting the testosterone peak to coincide with ovulation), but that does not seem necessary – 2.66g/day for 90 days significantly improved several sperm-based parameters.[31]

If anything, DAA could be cycled for three months on, one month off. That could work for everything else in this page as well, to play it safe. That month off will not be as much fun though!

Price Comparisons of these products

On PricePlow, you can save money using our price comparisons and coupons. The three components of this stack are below, and you can sign up for alerts (especially with the Maca news coming out!) to get notified of news and deals:

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Time to talk diet

This is subject to another post, but it’s strongly worth mentioning that your food choices may mean everything here. The long story short is that you’re going to want to avoid all processed foods, and yes, that means you’re going to need to cook.

Benefits, patents, and dosage instructions above

Realize that vegans have far worse fertility data,[33] so avoid that dietary strategy like the plague, especially during this time of your life.

Of processed foods to avoid, we emphasize the removal of all industrialized processed seed oils, such as canola oil, corn oil, soybean oil, cottonseed oil, or anything labeled as a “vegetable oil”. Processed foods contain a plethora of these, and we are especially concerned with the soy and soybean oil in our diets.

Meanwhile, processed meats such as hot dogs have been shown to decrease IVF fertilization,[34] while poultry increases fertilization and unprocessed red meat was “neutral”. Despite that data on red meat, there seems to be great benefits from meat not only from the zinc (see above), but also the carnitine content (L-carnitine is the energy substrate of spermatozoa[35] and L-carnitine is positively correlated with sperm count, motility and motile sperm density[36]).

Meanwhile, since cholesterol is a backbone for so many hormones, we do not fear its consumption, and especially do not fear eggs.

D-Aspartic Acid feels great for a few weeks, but it works great for fertility for months! Pictured: NutraBio DAA

The following statement is based on “epidemiological” and “correlational” data, but the increase of industrialized processed seed oils and the decrease of unprocessed red meat consumed in America has also coincided with the obesity crisis and a drastically reduced fertility rates.

If nothing else has been working, we’re now at the point where we should do nearly the opposite of what has been crammed down our throats. And that may mean a very low carbohydrate, high-protein, sufficient saturated and monounsaturated fat-based[37] diet, which has demonstrated incredible serum testosterone gains.[38]

Long story short: cook your own food, and make sure they’rehigh-protein, unprocessed foods.

Right now, you need protein, nutrients, and saturated fat and cholesterol. These are found in beef and eggs. They are not found in corn, soy, wheat, or disgusting industrialized processed seed oils. Stop wasting your money and calories on industrial garbage and get back to being a virule human.

If unwilling to increase red meat consumption, L-carnitine supplementation should be considered (2g/day), as it improves sperm motility.[39]Kaged Muscle L-Carnitine contains 500mg per capsule. Similarly, Coenzyme Q10 can be considered by both the man and woman, although its efficacy seems to be selective.[40,41]

Conclusion: Fire up the Ferodrox Fertility Stack

We often write about natural testosterone boosters, and many of them have become victims of their own overzealous marketing. We love how Kaged Muscle has always promoted Ferodrox with honesty. But along the way, we realized something else: this is an epic fertility supplement!

Look for these two logos if you need to be 100% certain there’s no banned substances

Through this accidental mega post, we hope we have convinced you that well-dosed testosterone boosters can boost fertility in men. And with just three supplements, we think we can put you on a whole new level.

Again, we know Kaged Muscle isn’t necessarily promoting Ferodrox as a fertility supplement, but we just couldn’t help ourselves in envisioning this post when seeing that label. The Shilajit puts it over the top.

But at the end of the day, we didn’t have these supplements in the 1950s when fertility was plentiful. Clearly, something else has happened in America, and that something else is the disaster known as processed food. So if you’re serious about babymaking, it’s time to get serious about what you put into your body, and that goes beyond the capsules mentioned in this post. It’s time to get back to a species-appropriate diet, red meat and all.

If you’ve been trying to start a family but feel you have been shooting blanks, give our stack a try, but do consider the diet ideas as well. You won’t regret it.

Mike Roberto is a research scientist and water sports athlete who founded PricePlow. He is a biohacker with extensive experience in supplementation and dietary modification, whose personal expertise stems from several "n=1" experiments done on himself while sharing lab tests.

Mike's goal is to bridge the gap between nutritional research scientists and non-academics who seek to better their health in a system that has catastrophically failed the public.

Lenzi, A, et al; “A placebo-controlled double-blind randomized trial of the use of combined l-carnitine and l-acetyl-carnitine treatment in men with asthenozoospermia”; Fertility and Sterility; 81(6):1578-84; June 2004; https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15193480